Skip to main content

Receiving Bodywork Needs to Be Non-Negotiable

08/04/2025
Image
instructor with student

 

By Cynthia Williams 

 

We learn in school that, as bodywork practitioners who give to others day after day, it is important to receive as well. Yet, it is often presented as simply a good idea rather than as a practice-management activity that is non-negotiable.  

 

Is it only a “good idea” to pay your office rent and utilities? No. These are absolute requirements to keep your business going if you are a sole proprietor. Is it only a “good idea” to show up to your scheduled work shift when you are an employee? No. It is an absolute requirement if you plan to keep your job. Receiving regular massage and bodywork needs to be taken every bit as seriously; it is an absolute requirement if you want to have a long-term career in this field. Here are five reasons why. 

 

1. It Keeps You Going Strong 

This is the most obvious reason why receiving regular massage and bodywork is so essential. The physical nature of your work alone is enough to justify putting this essential activity into your budget and your schedule.  

 

However, it’s also important to recognize the mental and emotional aspects of the work we do. We witness our clients’ pain, and we empathize. We offer compassion, comfort, and safety. Even when a client describes only physical pain when we interview them, research has shown that there is a greater picture. This is illuminated in the updated definition of pain by the International Association for the Study of Pain: “An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage.”1 When we touch clients, we touch the entirety of their experience. It needs to be acknowledged that we energetically encounter a lot in every client interaction. Regardless of our practices to keep that energy flowing through us rather than getting stuck within us, there is inevitably some residue, the movement of which can be facilitated when we surrender to someone else’s loving care. 

 

If you aren’t filling your own cup, it will run dry. Certainly, there are many ways to fill your cup, but none quite like yielding into the experience of receiving therapeutic massage or bodywork. We know this, because that’s what we do. 

 

2. Walking Your Talk Demonstrates Integrity 

This follows the first point because, if we aren’t practicing what we teach (which is that massage is an integral part of a self-care routine), then how can we reasonably ask our clients to buy into this concept? Why would we expect them to do something we aren’t willing to do ourselves?  

 

It’s very powerful when we share our stories of how massage and bodywork has positively impacted us personally. When we speak from our own experience, our conversations about how we can support our clients’ wellness goals carry far more weight. Otherwise, it would be like trying to sell a product that we don’t use. Our words can only go so far. When we walk our talk, we demonstrate integrity, which is an attractive professional attribute that clients greatly value. 

 

3. It’s An Excellent Source of Continued Learning, Connection, Support 

One of my favorite things about receiving bodywork is experiencing other practitioners’ approaches. I always learn something new and it keeps my work fresh and fun. In addition, it keeps things fresh for my clients too, especially the regular ones. In my experience, clients love to be the first ones to receive a new technique and offer feedback.  

 

Another benefit is that meeting new practitioners might lead to opportunities for support and connection. Perhaps you click with someone and decide to meet up and talk about things that are challenging you professionally. For example, maybe you have an ethical situation you aren’t sure how to manage effectively. Or you have a client who isn’t progressing despite approaching their pain or injury in multiple ways. Bouncing ideas off other skilled practitioners is invaluable. I believe we need to do more of it. Then, we might see situations from an alternate perspective and rest assured that we aren’t going it alone. 

 

4. Seeing the Client’s Perspective is Eye-Opening 

This point is often overlooked. When you don’t receive regular bodywork, you might forget the small details that make a big difference. This can present as a reminder of something that feels amazing, such as hot towels applied to the feet at the end of the session or receiving extra time on an area that you asked for special attention to. It can also present as a reminder of what doesn’t feel good, such as getting scratched by a jagged fingernail, having your hair uncomfortably pulled, or feeling exposed due to unsecure draping. 

 

It can be easy to become complacent and overlook the finer, necessary details of the work. This is far less likely when you experience both the positive and negative aspects as a recipient of hands-on work. 

 

5. It’s a Powerful Reminder of Our Work’s Value  

There are few experiences quite like receiving compassionate and skilled massage or bodywork.  Be reminded of that firsthand by getting yourself on the table. From the moment you lie down, even before the practitioner touches you, there’s a feeling of letting go of all things outside that particular space and time. The nervous system goes from sympathetic to parasympathetic. There’s peace and comfort and the opportunity for healing.  

 

For those of us who give every day, receiving massage and bodywork should be part of our long-term self-care plan. Put “receiving bodywork” in your budget and on your schedule as if it was one of the most important, non-negotiable activities for your life and your career . . . because it is. 

 

author bio

Since 2000, Cynthia Williams, LMT, has been actively involved in the massage profession as a practitioner, school administrator, instructor, curriculum developer, and mentor. In addition to maintaining a part-time massage and bodywork practice and teaching yoga, she is a freelance content writer and educational consultant. Contact her at cindy@imaginehealthforyou.com

 

Notes 

1. “IASP Announces Revised Definition of Pain,” July 16, 2020, https://iasp-pain.org/publications/iasp-news/iasp-announces-revised-definition-of-pain. 

 

Related Content: 

Category